Work guide in rotary cup feed sewing machines



Jan. 13, 1970 N. MARFORIO 3,489,112

WORK GUIDE IN ROTARY CUP FEED szwme MACHINES Filed June 21. 1967 y 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 WORK GUIDE IN ROTARY CUP FEED SEWING MACHINES Filed June 21, 1967 N. MARF'ORIO Jan. 13, 1970 3 Sheeis-Sheet 2 Jan. 13, 1970 N. MARFORIO 3,489,112

WORK GUIDE IN ROTARY CUP FEED SEWING MACHI NES Filed June 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,489,112 WORK GUIDE IN ROTARY CUP FEED SEWING MACHINES Nerino Marforio, Milan, Italy, assignor to S.p.A. Virginio Rimoldi & C., Milan, Italy Filed June 21, 1967, Ser. No. 647,651 Claims priority, application Italy, July 27, 1966, 17,374/ 66 Int. Cl. Db 35/10 US. Cl. 112-20 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A guide means for sewing machines having cup feed means, the guide means comprising uncurling members displaceable relative to the cups and correspondingly movable towards or away from each other.

This invention relates to a work guide in cup feed sewing machines wherein the cups rotate about vertical axes. Special guides for uncurling and guiding the edges of a Work fabric to be sewn, particularly in knitted work, which guides are fitted at the upper end of the feed cups which rotate stepwise oppositely to each other are known. In order for such a guide to function, it is necessary to turn it by hand in such a way as to move it away from the cups, open the uncurlers of said guide and introduce into them the work edges.

After that, the guide is turned again oppositely to the previous direction towards the cups so that the work edges protruding out of the guide are inserted between the cups, which meanwhile have been further opened by hand. Further, the machine is operated so that the work edges are fed by the cups and sewn by suitable stitch forming devices which comprise a looper and a hook, both moving near the needle and cooperating with said needle for the stitching formation.

Obvious the above mentioned hand operations involve some difiiculties particularly due to the fact that one hand is already engaged in keeping the guide uncurlers opened and the other hand in introducing into said guide the work edges to be sewn: the latter operation is very difficult to accomplish with only one hand, particularly when the work piece is a knitted one having highly curled edges. The introduction of said edges into the guide would require both hands. Besides, in order to insert said edges between the cups a further hand operation is necessary for opening said cups, thereby increasing the work time.

An object of this invention is to eliminate the above noted difficulties and to provide a means for easily introducing the edges of work to be sewn into the guide uncurlers without the hands being engaged during this operation in other activities. In order to achieve this object, the present invention resolves the problem of providing an operating means for the guide, which means enables said guide to move away from the feeding cups and simultaneously open the guide uncurlers.

This problem is resolved by provision of a guide of the aforementioned type having two fixed blades forming a V-shape, which blades interfere with spring extensions, which are integral with the uncurlers, in a manner whereby the uncurlers open when the guide is moved away from the feeding cups, whilst in the working position of the guide close to said cups, said extensions no longer interfere with said blades so that the uncurlers close.

Other objects and advantages are attained by this invention: for instance it is possible to speed up the work by rotating the guide, opening the guide uncurlers and ICC moving the feeding cups away from each other at the same time.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description now to follow of a preferred embodiment thereof shown by way of example in the accompanying, partly diagrammatic, drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1, 2, 3 are respectively a face, front and back elevation of the machine with the guide of this invention in working position.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 illustrate the different positions of the guide of this invention.

FIGURE 7 shows the guide of this invention in its inoperative position on a sewing machine.

The sewing machine relating to this invention cornprises a frame having a base 1, a standard 2 and a head 3. A main shaft 4 is integral with fly wheels 5 and 6 and said shaft is connected, as shown, with a machine operating electric motor not shown in the drawings.

The shaft 4 (FIG. 2) is also connected by an eccentric with a pitman 7 which is pivoted at 8 to a rocker arm 9 rocking on a pin 10. The other end of said rocker arm 9 is pivoted at 11 to a link 12 which is pivoted at 13 to a split collar 14 mounted on a needle bar 15 on which a clamp 16 supporting a needle 17 is mounted. The needle bar 15 is slidingly mounted on a support 18 mounted on the standard 2 which is provided with' a bearing sleeve 19, which rotatably supports shaft 20, the rotating movement of which is caused by a ball joint 21 connected with a pitman 22 coupled with an eccentric 23 linked to the shaft 4. The shaft 20 supports a looper 24 (FIG. 1) which cooperates with the needle 17 and with a hook 25 fitted on a lever 26. Said lever 26 is mounted on a swinging shaft 27 which is connected with the main shaft 4 by known means not shown in the drawings. A pitman 28 is oscillated by an eccentric mounted on the shaft 4 and is pivoted at 29 to an arm 30 rocking on a pin 31. Said rocker arm 30 has its other end pivoted at 32 to a rod 33 which is connected with a known one way clutching device 34 transforming the rocking motion of said rod 33 into a unidirectional stepwise motion which is transmitted to a vertical shaft 35 on which a feeding cup 36 is mounted.

By means provided in he head 3 and not shown in the drawings, the step-by-step motion of said feeding cup 36 is transmitted to a shaft 37 connected with a shaft 38 by means of a universal coupling 39. Said shaft 38 extends downwards and is connected with another feeding cup 40, which rotates in a direction opposite to that of said feeding cup 36 and both cups are used for feeding the work which is carried in correspondence with the needle 17 in order to be sewn.

A supporting lever 41 (FIG. 3) in which said shaft 38 is placed, is pivoted at 42 and is provided with an arm 43 which engages a slot 44 provided at the upper end of a bar 45 which is connected at its lower end by means of a hook 46 with a rod 47. Said rod 47 is fitted by a setting screw 48 on a slotted arm 49 which is pivoted to a pin 50' of a bracket 51 which is fixed to a lug 52, which is supported by a sewing machine bracket 53. Said bracket 53 has an opening 54 throughout which the rod 47 passes. On the bar 45 :a ring 55 is mounted, under which a spring 56 surrounds the bar 45. The other end of said spring 56 rests against the lower portion of a C-shaped bracket 57, under which a threaded bushing 58 is placed, which is provided with a knob 59. Said bushing 58 is screwed into a threaded hole of a boss 60 of the frame. The bushing 58 is used for adjusting the bias of the spring 56 and the bias of a spring 61, which is mounted between the upper portion of the bracket 57 and the arm 43.

By turning the arm 49 in the direction of the arrow A by means of a bell crank 62 pivoted at 63, the bar is lowered causing the arm 43 to pivot about the fulcrum 42 against an adjustable stop 43' so that the cup 40 moves away from the cup 36 in the direction of the arrow B. The spring 56 is provided for returning the arm 49 and the bell crank 62 to the initial position, whilst the spring 61 is provided for keeping the arm 43 against the upper part of the slot 44 and consequently for pressing the cup 40 against the cup 36 when they are in the working position.

A work guide 64 according to this invention (FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7) comprises an arm 65 pivoted about a shaft 66 which is connected at one end with a lever 67 and at the other end with a cam member 68. Said arm 65 is provided on its lower end with a fixed extension 69 at the sides of which two yielding uncurlers 70 and 71 are provided which are pivoted about pins 72. Said uncurlers 70 and 71 are respectively formed with extensions 73 and 74, between which a spring 75 is locked, passing through the arm 65. Said arm 65 is integral with a ring 76 provided with notches 77 and 77 in which a pawl 78 can be wedged, the latter being pivoted at 79 to a bracket 80 which is mounted on a boss 80' at which the shaft 66 is pivoted.

Surrounding said shaft 66 is a spiral spring 81 having one end connected with the arm 65 and the other end with the boss 80', so as to turn the guide 64 in a clockwise direction. To the lever 67 a chain 82 constituting a flexible connecting means is fixed to which a Bowden wire 83 is connected; which wire 83 is slidingly mounted within a sheath 84 and secured to the arm 49 by a setting screw 85 (FIG. 3). Said sheath 84 is held by a support 84 fixed to a cover plate '60 of the boss 60.

Arm 49 is, therefore, an actuation member common to the cups and also to the guide 64. Lever 67, on the other hand, constitutes an actuation member only for the guide 64.

A member 86 which is secured on a bracket 86' (FIG. 1) by set screws 87 is formed with two V-arranged fixed blades 88 (FIG. 4) which are placed one at one side and one at the other side of the two extensions 73 and 74, in such a way that when the guide 64 is in its working position, i.e., near said cups 36 and 40, said extensions 73 and 74 do not abut against the blades 88 and, therefore, the spring 75 is free to spread the extensions 73, 74 apart, keeping the uncurlers 70 and 71 closed against the fixed extension 69. In this case the pawl 78 is wedged in the notch 77 of ring 76 and is kept in this position by the bias of a spring 89 acting on said pawl 78.

On turning the work guide 64 to the position shown in FIG. 5, by means of the lever 67, the extensions 73 and 74 abut against the blades 88 whereby said extensions pivot on their own pins 72 so as to approach one another in opposition to the urging of spring 75 and consequently the uncurlers 70 and 71 move away from each other.

On turning the lever 67 from the position shown in FIGURE 4 to that of FIGURE 5, a portion 90 of the cam 68 lifts the pawl 78 out of the notch 77, after which a face portion 91 of said cam 68 abuts pin 92 on ring 76 and turns said ring for a short period whereby the face portion 93 of the ring 76 enters into contact with the pawl 78.

For turning the work guide 64 from the position shown in FIGURE 4 to that of FIGURE 5, a control means having a predetermined stroke is provided, which is, for instance, an electromagnet 94 which when excited, draws a rod 95 so that the bell crank 62 turns in the direction of the arrow A (FIG. 3), the arm 49 moving downwards dragging with it both the Bowden wire' 83 and the chain 82 thereby turning the lever 67 and consequently moving the guide 64, carrying it into the position shown In 5. In order to keep said work guide 64 in this position it is necessary to maintain the electromagnet 94 excited by closing a switch 96 of the electric circuit of the electromagnet,

In practice a treadle, not shown in the drawings, which is already provided for starting and stopping the electric motor operating the machine, can be pressed in a direction opposite to that which starts the motor for closing the switch 96, and the work guide remains in this position in correspondence to which said guide 64 is displaced from the cups 36 and 40, against the bias of the spring 81 which tends to rotate the guide in the direction opposite to the direction of traction of the chain 82.

Therefore, by actuation of the arm 49 along a predetermined stroke the guide 64 effects a rotation about its own fulcrum whereby the uncurlers 70 and 71 move away from each other, and simultaneously the cups 36 and 40 also move away from each other. In this position it is possible to insert two edges X, Y of the work to be sewn, respectively between said extension 69 and the guiding uncurlers 70 and 71 with the upper edges of the work against a horizontal pin 64 and the upper parts Z of said edges are inserted between the cups 36 and 40 which are open (FIG. 5). Thereafter, on opening switch 96, arm 49 is released and it resumes its previous position of FIGURE 3 by action of the spring 56 and also the guide 64 resumes the position of FIG. 4 by action of the spring 81, and finally the cups 36 and 40 returns to the position of FIG. 3 by action of the spring 61.

In order to maintain the guide 64 from the cups, to permit setting up of the sewing means without the necessity to press the afore-mentioned treadle in order to actuate the arm 49; it is necessary to further rotate the lever 67 carrying it to the position of FIG. 6, so that the pawl 78 is stably wedged within the notch 77' in such a way as to overcome the action of the spring 81.

When desired to carry the guide 64 into an inoperative raised position (FIG. 7) in order to use the machine with out it, it is necessary to rotate further the lever 67 so that first the pawl 78 is raised from a face portion 97 of the cam member 68 and then it is laid on a plane face portion 98 of ring 76. Obviously for turning the guide 64 into the working position of FIG. 4, it is necessary to rotate the lever 67 in a clockwise direction.

As known, the guide 64 can be raised in a vertical direction by a rod 99 (FIG. 2) actuated by means not shown in the drawings, which can be for instance a knee-control device. Said rod 99 is pivoted at 100 to a lever 101 pivoted at 102 and having its own end 103 placed below a flange 104 which is screwed On a pin 105 adapted to slide along a support 106 fixed to the head of the machine by a screw 107. Said pin 105 is fixed by screws 108 to the bracket 86 fixed to the member 86 by the screw 87 and to the boss 80' on which the shaft 66 is mounted.

Therefore, the work guide 64 can be more or less raised relative to the needle 17, by the rod 99, in order to adjust properly the distance between the seam and the upper part of the two edges of fabric to be sewn, and will be sent back into its original position by a return spring 109 interposed between the bracket 86' and the support 106, when the rod 99 is released.

I claim:

1. A work piece guide means for cup feed type sewing machinesincluding two cups rotatable about vertical axes, two uncurlers pivotably mounted on an arm in a manner whereby the edges of a work piece to be sewn may be inserted between said arm and each said uncurler, said arm together with said uncurlers constituting a unit displaceable between a working position and a displaced position relative to the cups of the machine, a fixed means cooperating with said curlers to pivot same towards each other and away from each other, respectively, in correspondence to said unit being respectively in said working or displaced positions, and means for displacing said unit between said positions.

2. The guide means of claim 1, the last mentioned means including a. selectively actuable. means for displacing said unit from said working position to said displaced position and a yieldable biasing means urging said unit into said working position.

3. The guide means of claim 2, said unit being pivotably mounted about a pivot axis to pivot between said positions, a notched ring integrally connected to and pivotable with said unit, a pawl cooperating with notch means in said ring for holding said unit in particular rotative positions thereof, a cam rotatable relative to said ring and cooperating with said pawl for disengaging same from said notch means, said selectively actuable means including an actuating member for rotating said cam and including connecting means between said cam and said ring, said connecting means permitting a limited extent of rotative movement of the cam relative to the ring and thereafter rendering the cam and ring integrally rotative relative to each other.

4. The guide means of claim 3, said ring including a face portion along which said pawl may freely slide, said selectively actuable means being displace-able to a fixed limited extent whereby actuation of same produces a corresponding degree of limited rotation of said cam and ring from a first to a second position thereof with said pawl being displaced out of said notch means and onto said face portion, said biasing means being operative to return said cam and ring to said first position upon release of said actuable means, said first position of said ring corresponding to said Working position of said unit and said second poistion of said ring corresponding to said displaced position of said unit.

5. The guide means of claim 3, wherein said actuable means comprises an electrical power means arranged to drive said cam.

6. The guide means of claim 3, said unit being pivotable independently of said selectively actuable means to an inoperative position which is displaced from said working position and from said displaced position.

7. The guide means of claim 1, said cups being displace able relative to each other, said means for displacing said unit being connected to said cups for displacing same relative to each other in accordance with said unit being displaced relative to said cups.

8. The combination of claim 7, including a biasing means for urging said cups towards each other and for urging said unit to said working position relative to said cups.

9. The combination of claim 8, said unit being displaceable relative to said cups independently of said cups being displaceable relative to each other.

10. The combination of claim 9, said means for displacing said unit including a first actuation member connected to said unit as well as to said cups and a second actuation member connected only to said unit, said first actuation member being connected to said unit through a flexible connecting means whereby said unit may be displaced by means of said second member without affecting said cups.

' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,339,574 1/1944 Kucera et al 11220 2,370,547 2/ 1945 Kneissler 1122() 2,632,412 3/1953 Cook 11220 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner 

